Running With Two
by bluestockingkat
Summary: Pj sees his best friend Ruth sneak out in the middle of the night, so he runs away with her. Will going to a new city be a good new beginning for the both of them? Or will their friendship suffer under the new changes and rash decisions?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except for the plot I guess. Nothing is real.**

**A/N: So I feel incredibly weird writing about a real person but this is based off a dream I had and I just **_**had**_** to write it down and it turned into this, SO Pj is Kickthepj but not. Like he looks the same and has a few of the same artistic traits but it's a different character basically since I don't know the real Pj and already feel a tad uncomfortable writing this but it's already written so what the hell, here it is. **

Pj was on his laptop typing away, the screen and small desk lamp dimly lit the dark room. The clock ticking steadily on the wall showed it was late. He stretched with a small groan and strode over to close the blinds, seeing his red headed friend Ruth climbing out her window with a backpack while wearing dark clothes. He instantly knew what she's doing and muttered, "Shit."

Pj acted quickly. He stuffed a pair of jeans in a backpack hurriedly while grabbing his guitar, laptop and small electronics around it, and a shirt and sweatshirt that was on top of his storage box. Having done this a few times before, he rushed down the staircase close to the wall quietly and coasted down the driveway in his car after casting a glance towards a window, his parents' bedroom, before starting and driving it to the entrance of the neighborhood where Ruth walked in the shadows, going faster when she saw his car.

"Ruth, wait come back!" He said in a loud whisper as he stumbled out of the car and jogged to catch up to her.

"You aren't taking me back. This isn't like last time," she muttered angrily while stepping around him.

"Taking you back? No, Ruth, look in the car," Pj pointed to his backpack half zipped with jeans sticking out, his guitar thrown in the back seat in its cover, and a pair of converse. "I'm coming with you."

She grinned after looking down at his sock covered feet as he wiggled his toes and threw herself at him in a hug, then gets in the passenger seat.

"You're the best, you know?" She said, wondering what's up with him.

"Where's your guitar?" He asked, glancing at her in the passenger seat in the dark. Only half of her face was lit by the yellow streetlight nearby and her red hair reflected the light brightly. She explained how she had to leave it as it was too bulky to carry on foot, so Pj offered to go back to get it, and also he persuaded her to leave a note to her younger sister. However, as they drove by slowly, there were a bunch of cars and lights on at Pj's house and one on in Ruth's.

"Damn...I was quiet. Why are they even up?" Pj muttered and continued to drive towards the end of the street to turn around at the dead end.

"Wait, we can't drive back. People are going out to their cars. They'll see us," She said, casting him a worried glance, "You're car doesn't exactly blend in."

He turned off the small green car, the headlights making it dark, thinking of what to do.

"We'll go on foot until there's a cab or bus then," he said.

"Pj, I know how much you love this car. You don't have to come with me," Ruth said. "You know it was only a matter of time before I left anyway."

"No, it's ok. I want to...if you want me too," he said with furrowed eyebrows while trying to think it all through; however, it was much too late to do any real thinking.

"Well, I mean, you're my best friend. Of course I don't want to leave you behind, but I don't know…" She said with a smile. They get out all the things in the back along with a few items from under the seats, but Pj takes the keys with him.

"They would have traced the plates anyways or something if my parents get the police involved. I'll just mail the keys along with a letter sometime. ...I don't want someone to steal it," He explained as he put on his other shoe. They cut through the small wooded area, stumbling a few times in the dark and walked along the back country roads all night towards the city. It was 15 minutes away by car but half the night by foot.

"Dare I ask what happened?" Pj said, breaking the rhythmic silence of their breathing. He knew that she didn't get along with her mom. Never did.

"No, I don't want to talk abo-I heard her talking on the phone okay…but Annie will be ok. Mom likes her better. I might come back for her one day, if I can," Ruth said, not looking at him but instead at the thousands of tiny rocks mixed in with the dirt. Pj didn't press on anymore. She'd eventually tell him so he weaved a happy little story out of his mind as they walked, something he usually did to take his mind off of stressful things, and it seemed to calm her down too. He was a natural born storyteller, often telling stories to escape the real world. They came to the small city right before sunrise. None of the stores were open yet so they sat on a bench after wiping off the morning dew and listened to the few early commuters driving their cars by.

"Tired?" She grinned while he yawned, but then in return she also yawned. He shook his head, the unkempt curls bouncing around. Ruth wasn't that tired though, surprisingly. It was the daunting presence of the future that kept her wide awake.

"Not yet, oh better turn off your phone. They won't be completely useless, but as long as we are at a standstill they would be able to find us." Pj said.

She told him her mom wouldn't want to find her, but he shrugged and said his parents would so they turned them off. Minutes later, they got coffee and a bagel at the nearest place, watching the sun rise. It was a nice morning for summer, not hot yet. Though Pj doubted it would be warm with all the clouds floating lazily around providing shade. Birds chirped as Ruth figured when the next bus would come while he withdrew money from the bank.

Once they were on the bus, he asked her, "Where do you want to go?"

She shrugged and replied with, "Anywhere that's not here. A bigger city maybe."

He nodded in agreement, not really caring, as long as she wasn't alone. Later after several long moments of silence, Ruth started talking again about leaving in a soft tone.

She said, "You know, there's exciting new things and people out there we can't even imagine. Ha, not even you! Nobody doesn't know anything about anybody. It's a new start, and you know how much I want that." Pj said he did know that and it all sounded great. They rode the bus until it was going to circle back and got off, searching for the next bus line.

After a few days of traveling, they fell into a silent, comfortable rhythm. It was summer, but the weather was nice. The nights they spent on park benches by a playground weren't as chilly as they could've been. Pj's phone would wake them up before any police man could and they would begin their traveling again. They'd gotten three cities away from their small hometown. The first day it rained was when Pj asked Ruth about what drove her to finally leave.


	2. Chapter 2

The first day it rained was when he asked her about what drove her to finally leave. Ruth stared out the window of the small café they were in at the drizzling raindrops before responding with a question.

"Why did you come and are you going to stay? What about college?" she asked. "Your family that loves you?"

Pj stared at her before only saying he wasn't going to leave her there by herself. He didn't want to and that it wasn't important about college, that he'd figure that out later. And also that she was leaving behind her sister just as much as he was his siblings.

He heard her mumble, "But I'm not the loved oldest kid, I'm the hated one," but didn't say anything in response. That wasn't the right time for that argument or cheering up talk. It was the time for silence and to find a place to sleep for the night.

Most of the time they walked down the sidewalks of a town or neighborhood, only getting a bus to the next small town, slowly making their way to more populated areas. While they waited at bus stops or sat on curbs to rest, whoever was carrying Pj's guitar would strum and play it out of boredom (taking turns lugging it around).

People actually tossed their money down to their surprise, clinking in the guitar case. They'd only been to the bathrooms a couple of times to freshen up so the two of them thought it was people feeling sorry for them as if they were homeless or something. But in fact, they kind of were. Pj had emergency money and they earned enough money to stop at fast food restaurants but never wanting to spend it all on a motel. One day, Pj had been getting really into the music and Ruth tapped and hummed enthusiastically along with his soft singing. They collected enough money to go into a small roadside diner that played songs off of old records and smelled like the good kind of greasy diner food.

As they waited at a booth for their food, Pj wrote a letter to his parents explaining and apologizing profusely about his sudden disappearance, saying he'll come back home soon. He wrapped the keys of his car in a thin cloth and dropped it into the envelope. He began to write a separate letter to his younger brother and sister also explaining and telling them he'd email them whenever possible as he knew they'd worry as much as his parents, but he wanted this and he'd share his adventures. He knew they'd be okay with him doing that. Pj wanted to be with his best friend and certainly didn't want her to be alone, though he knew she would have been just fine by herself. She wasn't helpless or weak at all.

Ruth meanwhile tried to write out a letter to her own sister at the suggestion of Pj, feeling guilty and at a loss of words or explanation for her sudden overwhelming desire to disappear. She looked out the window, feeling the humidity in the air of an oncoming storm brewing. The smoky outline of the city stood in the distance. Realizing the huge mess she'd drug Pj into, she began trying to pick a fight with him to get him to go home. This life of uncertainty and running away wasn't for him but it was all she knew, just in a lower scale. Her failure face shouldn't have drug his successful one into coming with him.

He looked up from his letter at her with eyebrows a bit together. Her heart sunk as it was only too easy to get him upset because they were both stubborn as hell.

"Peej, dammit, why did you have to come?" Ruth began. As negativity and unwelcome-ness poured from her mouth, Ruth tried hard to not look at his hurt eyes filled with disbelief.

Minutes later they sat fuming on opposite sides of the diner as the rain poured heavily outside, making the humidity and irritableness grow stronger. Ruth always liked rain and thunder but hated lightning, contradicting how she wanted a lightning bolt tattoo in honor of Harry Potter. But then of course Pj convinced her to get a henna of the deathly hallows instead.

It was always him stopping her from stupid ideas. Was this just another one of them? Except as they both were now graduated from high school and were held responsible for their actions, this was more massive than simply sneaking out to go to a concert or getting drunk at a party. However, if this idea gets fucked up, she was not going back home. That was something she was positive about.

Ruth sat in the corner of a red booth with her knees drawn up, head back, eyes closed, and fingers resting lightly on top of her backpack. Pj was sitting at the bar stools with his laptop and letters next to him. Ruth didn't want Pj to leave, but she already caused him so much trouble by already being his friend and now his promising future was going to be ruined. Why did he have to come with her? She didn't know how they were going to get a place to stay at in the city as they were mostly broke (and they were living off of his old summer job money so far) or if they'd even be able to get jobs.

The dream of running away to the city was a nice thought but reality was much harsher. Her future was always a blur and she didn't want to screw up her best friend's either. He knew exactly what field he wanted to go in to study in university. Ruth on the other hand wasn't sure at all. She didn't think she was good at too much. When Pj and Ruth weren't doing something together, she had spent a lot of her energy finding ways to stay out of her house and away from her mom while Pj would sit inside and work on writing stories or making things.

Thunder crashed and boomed and echoed around the land followed by a white bright flash and static sizzle. Even through closed and scrunched up tight eyelids, the lightning still made its way to her head. It wasn't the lightning itself so much but the memory associated with it. Then a slamming much closer sounded off. It was Pj noisily putting his things on the table. She stared at him emotionless.

"It took me a while," Pj said as he slid into the broken down red cushion of the booth across from her, "to figure out that you did that on purpose." He gave her a look before continuing, "if you genuinely want me gone then say so, but don't try to make me mad and want to leave because of some stupid guilt thing, well, that's not going to happen. It's my choice. I'm not going anywhere...unless you want me to."

Ruth shifted around on her seat to face him more. "Of course I want you to stay, but you're ruining your future. You don't need to protect me or anything."

"The thing is, it's my future that only I get to ruin, which it won't be, and," he paused with red creeping into his ears, "and besides, I want to stay with you." She finally grinned. How had she ever managed to find a best friend like him?

They finished waiting out the storm in the diner while drinking bitter coffee and making jokes about various people they'd seen so far. Pj had a really good time with that and made up background stories for a few of them.

"You know, this could just turn into the gap year I wanted to take. Pop is real convincing sometimes but I want a break and this is it I think," Pj said as they walked out of the diner together with their backpacks and guitar. Pj wanted to originally take a gap year but his dad convinced him otherwise, and later he was accepted into a nice university. Ruth sighed at that, silently agreeing that there was at least one good reason for him coming and it might actually make him happy. Pj and Ruth walked together along the pavement with the fog covered city loomed closer and closer and excitement and worry started to bubble inside the two of them.

**A/N: Leaving a review would be lovely, you know? Also should I end this story here or add on to it? Let me know if you are interested because it could go either way really. **


	3. Chapter 3

While half a mile away from the big skyscrapers and futuristic buildings where the tops were obscured by thick white clouds, Ruth thought about how she became friends with Pj. They'd lived in the same neighborhood since middle school, not quite neighbors. It was about the third week of sophomore year when she got into a small argument with her 'new friends.'

Ruth was always a sort of loner and drifted from friend group to friend group every few months of a year. She wasn't weird but wasn't normal either, never quite fitting in. She didn't like the other stupid and trivial things other people did. It mostly was fake, not everything, but she tired of it. All of the different groups eventually rejected her in one way or another for not following their clothes guidelines or not attending a popular party or showing interest in something they didn't. The last group that rejected her was before she became friends with Pj.

They'd been making fun of her after the last bell rang, saying nasty awful things that still sometimes rang through her ears. It wasn't typical bully insults. Well at first it was petty things like her wild red hair and her freckle face but then they became worse. They were things that Ruth knew to be true about herself…and her family. The group of girls walked in front of her while they gossiped and laughed, unaware of her presence. So, Ruth pushed them from behind out of blind rage and confronted them about it. Needless to say, there was shoving and shouting that quickly followed.

It was, in fact, Pj that broke it up. Walking by, he quickly interrupted the soon to be fight in a good natured way. While Ruth was left on the ground, they walked away to their cars with their noses in the air, laughing and continuing to talk shit, but Ruth was done. Broken.

Her confidence had shattered once again, as it usually did every few months. Feeling like an absolute outcast, she ran in the opposite direction towards her locker, forgetting about that guy that stopped it all, mainly to get away from all the stupid people, and sat on the ground in front of it, not wanting to go home but not having anywhere else to go. The park would be too busy at this time of day. She wanted somewhere that she wouldn't be seen.

Someone cleared their throat and her eyes popped open. It was the kid that had stopped the fight. Ruth supposed she needed to thank him but couldn't make the words come out. He offered out her hat that had dropped. She took it with shaky hands and looked down, only to see another pair of converse next to hers. What was he doing sitting down?

"Cool bag," he said, looking at the various pins on it. She smiled and after about 10 minutes of long silence, he got up to leave and nodded a departing goodbye. Later, she felt bad that she'd been sort of rude to him, but the next morning he was lurking around her locker, wanting to know her name because they were almost neighbors.

Ever since, they'd been friends and found out they had similar interests and personalities with vastly different home lives. After that, they became best friends. They both were rejected from their friend group, though she never found out why Pj was as she thought he was a very likeable dude. He was and probably always will be very friendly and talkative and charismatic. He was someone that almost anyone would like instantly. Ruth stopped reminiscing the past and came back to the present where the buildings grew larger and larger ahead of her.

"You know, I never thanked you properly…" Ruth began, kicking a rock. It tumbled a few feet ahead of her.

"For what?" Pj asked, kicking the same rock and watching it roll over and over, stopping in a puddle.

"You know, the first time we met and you broke up that fight." Ruth said, looking over at him. The sun shone dimly from behind thick clouds but his face still lit up.

"Yeah and…? Maybe I should apologize to you. It seemed like you wanted to rip their faces off." He laughed and she joined him briefly.

"I did, but since it was about 4 to 1, I'm glad you were there." Pj walked a few more steps before replying that he was glad he was there too.

"Ready for our next new adventure?" He asked. Ruth looked at him then at the tall buildings they were standing next to.

"Yeah," she said while stepping onto the perfectly smooth cement sidewalk, contrasting against the cracked black pavement they'd been walking on from the diner.


End file.
